


Dragonslayer

by meridian_rose (meridianrose)



Category: Midnight Texas (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Community: trope_bingo, Crack, Dragons, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2017-10-12
Packaged: 2019-01-16 10:44:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12341112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meridianrose/pseuds/meridian_rose
Summary: It was, they said, an honour to be sacrificed to the dragon. Manfred is not convinced that his sacrifice is in the least bit honourable or necessary. Luckily help is at hand.





	Dragonslayer

It was, they said, an honour to be sacrificed to the dragon.

Sitting on the cold, hard ground, his wrists manacled and chained around a rock, Manfred was finding it difficult to find any honour in the situation.

If his grandmother was still alive she would never have allowed this, but she was gone, and despite his gift of Seeing, Manfred had never possessed the magic his ancestors had. Enough magic to make him a "worthy" offering but not enough to let him save himself.

He'd certainly not Seen this coming.

Manfred shuffled a little, the metal chain clinking against the boulder. He was freezing and his muscles were getting sore. Another few hours and he might be glad to be eaten.

His eyes fell on a pile of bones near the cave entrance not forty paces away. Some of them were animal bones. Some of them were not. One of them looked distinctly like a skull. As the wind changed direction, Manfred caught a whiff of burnt flesh.

On second thoughts he wasn't quite so eager to be gobbled up.

The bushes to his left rustled. Manfred froze in place. To his amazement a warrior stepped out onto the barren patch of ground. Clad in dull grey armour, the knight held up one gloved finger in front of the pointed visor; hush.

Manfred didn't even nod, simply stayed where he was. The knight took three steps toward him.

From within the cave came a sound that made Manfred's blood run cold. A creeping, slithering sound, accompanied by a hiss. The knight stopped and drew their sword, turning to face the entrance.

The dragon shot out of the entrance, its speed belying its size. Gold eyes flared. It leapt into the air, intending to pounce on the knight, a cloud of smoke filling the air. The knight fell to one knee, holding the sword upright.

The dragon impaled itself, falling. The knight was crushed beneath the weight of the creature. The dragon's gold eyes turned dull and its tongue rolled from its mouth, the wet tip coming uncomfortably close to Manfred. He scampered back further against the rock.

A noise came from beneath the dragon, the body moving and the knight clawed a path out, kicking and shoving. Finally free, the knight rolled to lie on their back. Manfred was impressed.

He was surprised but not shocked when the knight reached up to pull off the helmet and toss it aside. Long blonde hair was released and a feminine voice said, "Fucking dragons."

The knight rolled over. "Are you hurt?"

"Me?" He wasn't the one who'd nearly been squished by the dragon. "No."

She nodded, sheathing her sword. "You're Manfred, son of Rain, grandson of Xylda, the last heir of the Bernardo clan?"

It sounded impressive when she phrased it thus. "Yes."

"Our advisor, Joe, would have your assistance, Manfred. He was quite distraught to discover you were to be sacrificed. But this is not the first dragon I've killed, nor I expect, will it be the last." She moved to examine his bonds, discarded her gloves. A quick ferret beneath her breastplate produced a key that by all rights should not have fitted the lock, yet did.

Manfred rubbed at his wrists as soon as he was free. "Thank you. I'm grateful – your name?"

"Olivia," she said. "Do not thank me yet. Joe says there is a prophecy that a Seer will save our town of Midnight. I hope you are up to the challenge."

If she was going to take him away from those who'd condemned him to be sacrificed, Manfred would agree to anything.

"I always thought," he said as they began to walk towards Olivia's home, "that if someone rescued you from a dragon you had to marry them."

Olivia gave him a withering look. "I'm not the marrying kind.”

"That's probably only princesses, anyway," Manfred said. "Having to marry."

"Probably. That's why I turned my back on my family and their plans for me and became a knight," Olivia said.

She was a princess?

"Oh. By the way, my grandmother had all the power. I'm not much of Seer," Manfred said, feeling obliged to be truthful.

"Midnight is under the protection of a powerful witch," Olivia said. "I'm sure she can help you harness your powers."

They walked in silence for a while until Olivia had to grab Manfred before he walked into a ditch. She gave a long sigh and muttered something about having to keep an eye on him and that Joe had better be right this time.

“Clearly you are not to be trusted alone," Olivia declared.

 

He'd have protested if he hadn't been five minutes away from being dragon fodder when they’d met. Still, Manfred tried not to do anything else stupid, concerned just how far Olivia’s patience might stretch.

Stupid would have included telling her about the vision he'd seen when her hand was clasped around his wrist to prevent him from falling. Of them standing on the battlements of a castle, hand in hand, devoted and determined.

It was not wise to piss off a dragonslayer and so Manfred kept his vision to himself.

**Author's Note:**

> For the trope bingo prompt 'AU: Fairy Tale/Myth'  
> "Princess and dragon is a generic premise common to many legends, fairy tales, and chivalric romances." ([source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_and_dragon))  
> Thanks to Tinamour for the beta


End file.
